Fear of predators is not "natural":study

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By Ed Stoddard, Reuters

Fear of predators is not instinctive but is a learned behavior that only develops when prey species share space with animals that eat them, according to a new study released this week.

The study's conclusion: remove the lions, and the zebras will lose their fear of them. But add wolves to a new territory and the resident elk or moose will soon learn they spell trouble.

Conducted by Dr. Joel Berger of the Wildlife Conservation Society, or WCS, the study compared the behavior of four prey species in three different settings: locations where predators still prowled; areas where top predators no longer exist; and places where carnivores had been reintroduced.

Such research is regarded as important to understanding the dynamics of reintroducing predators to ecosystems where they had been exterminated by humans.

"If you take away wolves, you take away fear. That is a critical piece of knowledge as biologists and public agencies increase efforts to re-introduce large carnivores to places where they have been exterminated," WCS said in a statement.

"When the predator-prey relationship comes back into balance, impacts ripple through the system. For example, when wolves returned to the Yellowstone region, they caused a cascade of events including a change in elk distribution, more wariness in moose, and a change in coyote densities," it said.

Wolves were re-established a decade ago in Yellowstone National Park in the western United States.

Berger tested reactions of animals living without their historic predators by playing recordings of wolves and tigers.

"As expected, in the absence of predators, the elk, moose, bison and caribou did not show the kind of vigilance, clustering behavior and flight observed in the same species living with wolves, bears or tigers," the WCS said in a statement.

"For example, elk in the mountains of Siberia -- who subsist alongside tigers, wolves and bears -- responded five times faster to the recordings than did elk in Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado) where major predators have been absent for some 90 years," it said.

The study adds to previous work such as that on the evolution of flightlessness in birds on islands without predators. Such birds were often exterminated after the arrival of humans in part because they had no fear of predators.

The study is published in the latest issue of the journal Conservation Biology.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070621/sc_nm/...DPQBdRyk1kiANEA

[Jenn! 918]

Well, geez, I coulda told you that!

[GaryC 7]

This has been known for a while now. The Galapigos islands are full of animals with no fear at all because there are no preditors there.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Well, geez, I coulda told you that!

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

[peejay 327]

People and animals learn to be afraid. Slow learners are the first to go. Need I say more?

Distrust and wariness are good survival skills.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

People and animals learn to be afraid. Slow learners are the first to go. Need I say more?

Distrust and wariness are good survival skills.

So is friendship and trust.

[peejay 327]

People and animals learn to be afraid. Slow learners are the first to go. Need I say more?

Distrust and wariness are good survival skills.

So is friendship and trust.

Ever hear of blind trust? I don't buy into it. It's about as smart as playing Russian roulette. You never know when the hammer drops on a live one...until it's too late.

Friendship and trust is earned where I come from. It's not automatic.

Honestly...would you pick up a wino on a street corner and bring them home to stay in your house with your loved ones? I wouldn't.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Must have been a doornail-paced day at yahoo's science newsroom. This particular "finding" has been known at least since the time of Richard Owen (1840's)--and indeed is considered a primary cause in a bulker-load of extinctions since 1200 AD.

Edited June 23, 2007 by CherryXS

[one...two...tree 2,762]

People and animals learn to be afraid. Slow learners are the first to go. Need I say more?

Distrust and wariness are good survival skills.

So is friendship and trust.

Ever hear of blind trust? I don't buy into it. It's about as smart as playing Russian roulette. You never know when the hammer drops on a live one...until it's too late.

Friendship and trust is earned where I come from. It's not automatic.

Honestly...would you pick up a wino on a street corner and bring them home to stay in your house with your loved ones? I wouldn't.

Just remember... the enemy of your enemy is your friend and you'll be fine.

[GaryC 7]

People and animals learn to be afraid. Slow learners are the first to go. Need I say more?

Distrust and wariness are good survival skills.

So is friendship and trust.

Steve, I have some land to sell you. You don't need to see it first. Trust me.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

People and animals learn to be afraid. Slow learners are the first to go. Need I say more?

Distrust and wariness are good survival skills.

So is friendship and trust.

Steve, I have some land to sell you. You don't need to see it first. Trust me.

Gary, I think you and peejay missed my point. Humans are social animals - we benefit from forming social bonds (friendship) and relying on those bonds (trust). I'm not talking about trusting strangers, but strangers will always be strangers unless you reach out socially. We're all a bit too much on the distrusting and fearful side, IMO.

[Caladan 19]

There's a difference between trust and blind trust. Try killing a mammoth on your own (uh, after you invent the time machine) and you'll see why human beings are social animals. We're sorta weak in the teeth and nails department.